Alton Brown takes his ‘Last Bite’ at the Orpheum
Chef Alton Brown calls Memphis “a fairly food-crazy town.” (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP file)
Alton Brown is looking forward to returning to Memphis, both for the city’s “good eats” and its people.
“Memphis is a fairly food-crazy town. It may be the most foodie town in the South other than New Orleans, and maybe it might be more so than New Orleans,” Brown said when asked why he wanted his latest show tour to stop in Memphis. “How I know is because the audience is always so engaged and so interested.”
Brown’s latest U.S. tour, “Alton Brown Live: Last Bite,” will visit Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre for one show only on Saturday, May 3. It will be his fourth performance at the Orpheum.
And, Brown said, this will be his last, large national tour.
“I may do smaller shows in the future, but this 18-wheeler extravaganza is the last one for me,” he said.
For the final large-scale tour, Brown is pulling out all the stops for his signature culinary variety show.
“I invented this thing called the culinary variety show, which integrates storytelling and comedy with audience interaction and on-stage volunteers,” he said. “It’s large, very unusual culinary demonstrations and live music all in one show.”
For those who have attended his shows in the past, Brown said this show will be different because the “machine” he’s created is his biggest and most complicated one yet.
“The show will have the same format as my other tours, but because of the size of the machine, it will be 20% more science, with less music,” he said. “I just couldn’t fit my band in the truck.”
Brown recently released his 10th book, “Food for Thought,” which is a collection of essays and ruminations. Signed copies will be available for purchase at the show.
“It’s completely different from my past books. It’s not a cookbook,” Brown said. “It was an accident. I stuck some paper in my typewriter to loosen the key and I wrote a couple of pages and set it aside. I came back a few days later, read them and thought, ‘Wow, this is kind of interesting.’ ”
And speaking of good eats — which was the name of his 16-season Food Network show — Brown thinks Memphis has a lot of them to offer.
In 2016, Brown notoriously called East Memphis Gibson’s Donuts his favorite yeast donuts in the country.
Brown is not sure he will be able to get across town for another donut while he’s in Memphis, but there is one spot he plans to go.
“Of course I am gonna get some Gus’s (World Famous Fried Chicken),” he said. “You know I am a human being.”
“Alton Brown Live: Last Bite” is Saturday, May 3, at 4 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main St. Tickets can be purchased via the Orpheum box office, Ticketmaster, orpheum-memphis.com or by calling 901-525-3000.
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Alton Brown Orpheum TheatreJennifer Chandler
A cookbook author and former restaurateur, Jennifer Chandler has been writing about food and dining for more than 25 years.
She is the author of four cookbooks: “The Southern Pantry Cookbook,” “Simply Salads,” “Simply Suppers,” and “Simply Grilling.” While she boasts a degree from Le Cordon Bleu, this Memphis native is about making real food accessible for real families.
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